Tourist Visa To Uk - Self Sponsor

[mssabai]

Hi,

My boyfriend (Thai) is applying for his tourist visa for a 2 week visit to the UK in Feb. He will be supporting himself financially and has also been asked by a a university to do a guest seminar so he will be getting a letter of invitation from them too. He will be staying with me so I said I would write a letter to support his application.

Has anyone done this before? I am just writing that I have offered him accommodation for the duration of his stay. Do I need to add anything else? I have decided to say 'friend' to avoid any complications.

Any advice would be great,

Thanks!

Edited December 14, 2011 by mssabai

[bobrussell]

Be careful with the visa type if your boyfriend is going to do any work, paid or unpaid (guest seminar). A tourist visa is probably not the right one.

[7by7]

It isn't. General (tourist) visa holders are prohibited from doing any work, paid or unpaid, whilst in the UK.

To be honest, I don't know which type of visa would be suitable; possibly Business visitor: Academic visitor.

The university are presumably used to inviting people from overseas to speak at their seminars, so should be able to advise.

[mssabai]

Thanks for your replies. After a bit more research and your help he has decided that it is probably best to just not mention the seminar and proceed with a regular tourist visa. He is neither an "eminant doctor" nor is he coming here on any kind of exchange so it doesn't seem as if he fits into the academic visa category. He is only doing the seminar, because he is here already. If needs be it could be cancelled.

i am now writing a letter to confirm that he will be staying with me for the duration of the trip. My instinct is that it may be better to leave our relationship as a rather euphamistic "friends" to avoid any unnecessary complications. What are other people's thoughts?

Edit....in fact just looking at the forms, I am wondering if I should be writing anything at all? Being that he is supporting himself, if he then ticks that I am essentially paying for accommodation and food, would then that not mean that I would need to send in details of my finances etc? Would it just keep it simpler if he just keeps it as only himself that is mentioned on the form. He fits all the criteria as a visitor and I don't want to put a spanner in the works!

Edited December 22, 2011 by mssabai

[7by7]

As said, all work, even unpaid work, is prohibited to general visit visa holders. If he does enter as a general visitor and addresses or even attends the seminar then he will be in breach of his visa conditions which could have serious consequences if discovered; including a possible 10 year ban from entering the UK as a visitor.

Surely the university concerned have experience of overseas visitors attending and addressing their seminars and so can advise on which visa he requires?

There is no reason why he cannot pay all the costs of the trip himself, though he will need to provide evidence that he has the finances to do so.

There is also no reason why he cannot stay with you. If you are only providing accommodation you do not need to supply any evidence of your finances. You will need to provide evidence that he can stay with you; proof of ownership, such as a mortgage statement, if you own or a letter from your landlord if you rent. You will need to show that there is at least one room for his exclusive use, though sharing with another male is acceptable.

As is sharing with a female partner. So if you only have one bedroom you may want to reconsider telling the truth about your relationship! Better to do so anyway; lying, even by omission, in a visa application is a very bad idea. Remember he will sign a declaration that the information in the application is true and complete. Possible 10 year ban if discovered that it isn't.

[mssabai]

Thank you so much for all this info. I am going to ask him to contact his university and see if they can help, and if they can't then maybe look to cancel the seminar, a 10 year ban would be pretty disasterous!

Evidence of his finances is fine, I certainly would much rather they look at his than mine! I think he has about 20,000 AUSD in savings in Oz (plus land and savings etc in Thailand but would be more hassle to get details of these), so assume this would be enough.

Great info about the accommodation. All of that is no problem. The only reason I was nervous about mentioning our relationship was that I would then have to provide evidence, would this not be the case? He did his masters here so has other friends etc he is coming to see too though obviously I am the most important one.. ; )

[7by7]

The only reason I was nervous about mentioning our relationship was that I would then have to provide evidence, would this not be the case?

Even if you were just a friend offering him accommodation you would still need to explain why you were doing so in a covering letter and provide some evidence of your relationship.

Phone/email/skype/etc. records are fine.

You may find http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/446602-uk-visit-visa-basics/ helpful.